Items tagged with cable

Researchers at the University of California in San Diego have just crafted a new fiber optic technology which could dramatically improve our Internet's backbone, as well as reduce costs. While fiber optic connections to the Internet are a luxury for home and business, they're imperative for the outside sources that bring us our data. The backbone of the entire Internet is laced head-to-toe in fiber, as it's the only possible option for delivering and sustaining the bandwidth needed to serve everyone. But, its current design has a couple of caveats. At the forefront, current technology doesn't allow...Read more...

A Bloomberg report that came out on Memorial Day was right on the money when it came to Charter’s ambitions to take on cable juggernaut Comcast. Bloomberg learned that Charter would scoop up Time Warner Cable (TWC) for $195 per share, valuing the transaction at roughly $55 billion. Charter confirmed the acquisition this morning, valuing each TWC share at approximately $195.71. The transaction has an equity value of $55.76 billion, but TWC has long-term debt of $22.64 billion which value the entire whole shebang at over $78 billion. The TWC acquisition will vault Charter from fourth place in the...Read more...

Federal regulators put into a motion a legal process that would have made it very difficult for Comcast to proceed with its blockbuster plan to acquire Time Warner Cable (TWC) for $45 billion, and as a result of Comcast pulling out of the proposed buyout, Bright House Networks has abandoned its own plans of merging with Charter.The deals were intertwined in hopes of appeasing antitrust concerns. As constructed, if Comcast received approval to buy TWC, it would sell 1.4 million subscribers to Charter for $7.3 billion. Comcast would also divest 2.5 million subscribers as part of a spinoff into a...Read more...

Move over Google, and step aside AT&T, because here comes Cox with residential 1-gigabit Internet service of its own. Called G1GABLAST (Gigablast from here on out), the 1Gbps Internet service is now available in parts of Phoenix, Arizona; Orange County, California; Omaha, Nebraska; and Las Vegas, Nevada. Ultra high-speed Internet isn't anything new to Cox -- it's been offering business customers multi-gigabit options for over a decade. However, there's been a recent movement to bring 1Gbps service to home consumers, as both Google (Google Fiber) and AT&T (U-verse with AT&T GigaPower)...Read more...

Comcast is one of only two companies to be voted "Worst Company in America" multiple times, having come away with Consumerist's title in 2010 and again in 2014. The cable giant is aware that it has an image problem, one that largely stems from poor and sometimes downright horrid customers service, and it's going on a hiring spree as part of a plan to change the customer experience. One of the core elements of Comcast's plan is to create 5,500 customer service jobs over the next few years. Comcast hopes that this investment in workers will allow the company to always be on time for customer appointments,...Read more...

Cable companies are faced with a decision as more and more TV viewers cut the cord in favor of streaming -- evolve or become extinct. Only one of those options is enticing, and so Cablevision has gone and inked a deal with Hulu to apparently resell its Hulu Plus subscription service to its Optimum customers. As such, Cablevision becomes the first cable or satellite or TV provider to distribute Hulu. We say "apparently" because the press release Cablevision put out is short on details. The alternative to reselling Hulu Plus would be to offer it as a free service to Optimum subscribers, either as...Read more...

If Comcast and Time Warner Cable have a Plan B, they may want to consider implementing it. Just as was expected would happen, the Federal Communication Commission's staff reportedly recommended what's called a "hearing designation order" to determine if the proposed $42.5 billion Comcast-TWC merger is within the best interest of consumers.A hearing designation order is an undesirable procedural move in which an administrative law judge would ultimately decide on the fate of the proposed merger. And while the FCC hasn't come right out and said it opposed the deal, this can be viewed as a strong...Read more...

The opposition to the $45 billion Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger is growing. Late last week, we reported that the Department of Justice (DOJ) antitrust division is damn near close to recommending that the deal be nuked. The DOJ’s recommendations could ultimately lead to a lawsuit aimed at stopping the deal in its tracks. For its part, Comcast contends that a merger with TWC would be good for consumers. “There is no basis for a lawsuit to block the transaction,” said Comcast spokeswoman Sena Fitzmaurice last week. Fitzmaurice went on to add that the deal would “result in significant consumer benefits...Read more...

We learned last week that Verizon would be updating its FiOS TV service to give customers a lot more freedom with regards to their channel selection, and we followed-up over the weekend about ESPN's immediate objection to the move. Despite ESPN's objections, FiOS Custom TV is now open to Verizon customers. Isn't business fun? To be fair to ESPN, a contract is a contract, and as outsiders, it's hard or impossible to tell if Verizon is in fact breaking an agreement. Nonetheless, the move Verizon has made is a good one. I wouldn't go to the extent of calling it "great" quite yet, as there are quite...Read more...

If you have an opinion that many would deem illogical, what do you do? You go find other people who think just as illogically, of course. Power in numbers, as they say. That can go for a sibling battling with another sibling over who took the last of the cupcakes just as well as it can for mega corporations like Comcast which argue that a monopoly is a good thing. Comcast's desire to absorb Time Warner Cable has been a hugely debated topic, with many believing it'd harm innovation and work against consumers, while others -- those on Comcast's side -- state the exact opposite. I say if you have...Read more...

Charter Communications this week said it's planning to acquire Bright House Networks, the sixth largest cable company in the U.S., for $10.4 billion. However, there are several contingencies, one of the biggest of which is government approval for rival Comcast to acquire Time Warner Cable, as Charter has a vested interest in the side deal. If Comcast is able to buy TWC, it has agreed to shed 1.4 million subscribers to Charter in exchange for $7.3 billion to help nudge regulators to approve the deal. Comcast said it would also divest 2.5 million subscribers as part of a spinoff into a...Read more...

In a perfect world, none of us would have to call customer service, but alas, the world is far from perfect. And so too is the customer service we're talking about. No one likes having to deal with the hassle of ringing up customer service for help or a request, but that dislike gets amplified when the company behind this customer service is a cable or Internet provider. Unless you've somehow managed to avoid the Internet these past few years, you're probably well aware of the enormous number of horror stories that have stemmed from the customer service departments of companies like Comcast and...Read more...

Comcast is not exactly a well-liked company in the United States, and that’s putting it nicely. In fact, Consumerist readers ranked Comcast as the Worst Company In America for 2014 (making it two-time winner… err loser). As Comcast ratchets up its lobbying efforts to win approval for its acquisition of Time Warner Cable, the unnerving shadiness of the company continues to emanate from its pores.The latest chapter in the Comcast saga comes to us courtesy of consumer advocate Christopher Elliot. He details the story of Lisa Brown, who had a nasty run in with the company. After her family was experiencing...Read more...

President Barack Obama's first order of business this week was to post an open letter urging the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to reclassify Internet service as a utility and implement strong rules in favor of net neutrality, such as disallowing the rental of premium fast lanes and banning the practice of throttling. But while it's nice to have the President in your corner on important issues like net neutrality, it's come to light that politicians on both sides of the aisle received a combined sum of more than $8 million in campaign contributions from big cable companies in the 2014...Read more...